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Sat, 04 May 2024 16:50:00 +0000 Ukraine Struggles To Build New Defensive Lines As Its Forces Retreat
Ukraine Struggles To Build New Defensive Lines As Its Forces Retreat
Ukraine Struggles To Build New Defensive Lines As Its Forces Retreat
Authored by Kyle Anzalone via The Libertarian Institute,
Russian forces are advancing in several places across the 600-mile frontline in Ukraine, straining Kiev’s ability to build rear fortifications. Some in the Ukrainian military fault the country’s leadership for not building stronger second and third-line defenses last year while Russian troops were stalled .
According to a dozen Ukrainian soldiers, government officials, and construction company directors who spoke with the Associated Press , Kiev is struggling to set up new defensive lines as its forces retreat . The officials cited several issues including decision-making last year, bureaucracy in doling out military contracts, and ammunition shortages.
A deputy infantry commander fighting near Avdiivka explained that the defensive line needed to be built last year during Ukraine’s offensive. "There was an absence of responsibility. … People didn’t understand that fortifications can save your life if you do it in advance," he stated. "Many people thought we … wouldn’t need to prepare such lines. They didn’t expect a new Russian offensive."
Last summer, at Washington’s insistence, Kiev launched a counteroffensive that failed to retake much territory due to deeply entrenched Russian defensive lines. Ukraine lost a significant number of troops and military equipment during the failed assault.
The AP notes that "Ukraine’s lack of adequate defensive lines has helped Russia make significant military gains, and constant enemy fire hinders building."
In a Telegram post on Sunday, Kiev’s Commander in Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said the situation at the front had "escalated," adding, "Trying to seize the strategic initiative and break through the front line, the enemy has concentrated its main efforts in several directions, creating a significant advantage in forces and in means ."
In the battle for Chasiv Yar, a city in Donetsk, a Ukrainian soldier said the lack of fortified positions allowed Russian forces to prevail, with over 100 men killed or missing after a major withdrawal from the area.
"We lost department commanders, platoon commanders, company commanders, and sergeants . That is, we lost the entire skeleton of the brigade," the soldier explained to the AP.
Rather than use military engineers to complete the projects, Kiev elected to pay construction companies to build third-line defenses. Ukraine awarded the contracts without following the typical bidding process, raising fears of corruption . Additionally, one contractor said the reported progress on the fortifications has been exaggerated to satisfy the government’s demands.
Tyler Durden Sat, 05/04/2024 - 12:50 Close Sat, 04 May 2024 16:15:00 +0000 "Stunning On Multiple Levels": DOJ Admits To Evidence Tampering In Trump Classified Docs Case
"Stunning On Multiple Levels": DOJ Admits To Evidence Tampering In Trump Classified Docs Case
Special Counsel Jack Smith's team admitted on Friday that key evidence in Trump's classified documents case was altered or manipul
Read more.....
"Stunning On Multiple Levels": DOJ Admits To Evidence Tampering In Trump Classified Docs Case
Special Counsel Jack Smith's team admitted on Friday that key evidence in Trump's classified documents case was altered or manipulated - leaving two different chronologies; one that was digitally scanned vs. what's in the actual boxes.
Smith also misled the court , after originally telling U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that the boxes remained "in their original, intact form as seized," when in a footnote they conceded that they removed classified documents and left placeholder sheets , which prosecutors acknowledged has created an "inconsistent" record - in which some of the documents are no longer in the same order as they appear in digital scans made in the fall of 2022.
"The Government acknowledges that this is inconsistent with what Government counsel previously understood and represented to the Court," the footnote reads, according to Just the News
The finding comes after Cannon ordered a review into whether the FBI may have seized legally privileged records in response to a request from Trump co-defendant Walt Nauta.
"Since the boxes were seized and stored, appropriate personnel have had access to the boxes for several reasons, including to comply with orders issued by this Court in the civil proceedings noted above, for investigative purposes, and to facilitate the defendants' review of the boxes," wrote Smith's team in the Friday filing.
"There are some boxes where the order of items within that box is not the same as in the associated scans ," the filing continues.
The organization of the documents in storage boxes at Mar-a-Lago is likely to be an important part of Trump‘s defense . His team is expected to argue the documents were stored in the White House in chronological order on the days that Trump received them, and that staff simply boxed them up and sent them to his home without him accessing them or knowing they contained classified information.
Smith’s team tried to downplay the problem and argued it’s not a reason for a delay in Trump’s case.
But several legal experts told Just the News the court filing essentially is an admission of evidence tampering, and could be problematic . -Just the News
"Prosecutors and investigators should never tamper with or alter evidence in their possession , including the order of documents in a box because one never knows what may become relevant or crucial to a court or jury later in a case," Alan Dershowitz told Just the News .
"This admission is stunning on multiple levels," said defense attorney Tim Parlatore, who worked on Trump’s team earlier in the classified documents case but no longer is involved, adding that the revelation "reinforces the incompetence" of prosecutors "in conducting basic criminal investigations and prosecutions that I observed when I was on the team.
"But at a deeper level, the loss of specific document locations is a destruction of exculpatory evidence ," Parlatore added. "I went through all of the boxes at NARA and the document order was important because it was clear to us that the boxes had been untouched since leaving the White House .
"For prosecutors who are trying to prove that the defendants knowingly possessed these documents to then destroy the evidence that would undermine that claim is a very serious violation," he said.
In response to the filing, Trump said on Truth Social that "Deranged Jack has admitted in a filing in front of Judge Cannon to what I have been saying happened since the Illegal RAID on my home ... that he and his team committed blatant Evidence Tampering by mishandling the very Boxes they used as a pretext to bring this Fake Case. "
Smith's Excuses
The prosecution offered several explanations for the manipulated evidence.
"There are several possible explanations, including the above-described instances in which the boxes were accessed, as well as the size and shape of certain items in the boxes possibly leading to movement of items," reads the filing. "For example, the boxes contain items smaller than standard paper such as index cards, books, and stationary, which shift easily when the boxes are carried, especially because many of the boxes are not full."
That said, Just the News also notes that altered evidence has featured prominently in previous political scandals .
Erasure of an 18 1/2 minute segment of Richard Nixon’s White House tapes became a very important aspect of the Watergate scandal.
The Iran-Contra scandal exploded during the Reagan years with the revelation that documents were shredded before they could be obtained by investigators.
The Hillary Clinton classified email scandal became more complicated in 2015 with the revelation that her team used a "Bleach Bit" program to erase emails on her secret computer server, and had email devices destroyed.
As Judicial Watch's Tom Fitton suggests, this is "Yet more reason to throw out this sham prosecution."
And as the Epoch Times the case was brought against President Trump and others over their alleged violation of federal law in handling documents marked classified. Defendants have pleaded not guilty .
Neither Mr. Nauta nor other defendants in the case have responded yet to the new filing.
Mr. Nauta’s request for an extension is one of many documents that are under seal, or unavailable for perusal.
In another recent filing, President Trump’s team said that the case should be dismissed because prosecutors are motivated by “improper political animus,” pointing in part to how White House lawyers worked with the National Archives and Records Administration on its referral to the Department of Justice and how President Joe Biden has said that he was “making sure” President Trump “does not become the next president again.”
Prosecutors opposed the dismissal request but their opposition was filed under seal.
Read the filing below (via Just the News ):
Tyler Durden Sat, 05/04/2024 - 12:15 Close Sat, 04 May 2024 15:40:00 +0000 Europe Scraps Net Zero, Biden Should But Won't, Why?
Europe Scraps Net Zero, Biden Should But Won't, Why?
Europe Scraps Net Zero, Biden Should But Won't, Why?
Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,
“Unaffordable climate commitments have two leftist British parties racing to exit stage left.”
Europeans Ditch Net Zero The Wall Street Journal reports Europeans Ditch Net Zero, While Biden Clings to It
You know you’ve stumbled through the looking glass when European politicians start sounding saner on climate policy than the Americans do. Well here we are, Alice: Europeans are admitting the folly of net zero quicker than their American peers.
The latest example—perhaps “victim” is more apt—is Humza Yousaf, who resigned this week as Scotland’s first minister. That region within the U.K. enjoys substantial devolved powers over its own affairs, including on climate policy. An administration led by Mr. Yousaf’s left-leaning Scottish National Party had hoped to rush ahead of the national government in London in slashing carbon emissions.
Until, that is, someone noticed the costs. A recent report from the U.K.’s Climate Change Committee noted Scotland had fallen far behind on its climate goals. The government aimed to reduce by 20% the aggregate distance driven by Scottish motorists, compared with 2019 levels, but had no plan to accomplish the reduction in personal mobility by the 2030 deadline. To get back on track with the government’s goal of a transition to home electric heat pumps, Scotland would have to replace natural-gas fire boilers at a rate of more than 80,000 households a year by the end of the decade. That’s a big ask considering that in 2023 it managed 6,000 boiler replacements. The government resisted imposing an aviation tax to discourage excess flying. And so on.
Mr. Yousaf did the only thing he could under the circumstances: He all but abandoned net zero. His administration announced it is ditching firm annual emission-reduction targets in favor of fuzzier “carbon budgets.” The Green Party, with which Mr. Yousaf’s SNP governed in a coalition, balked. After a series of political machinations that were one part “Macbeth” and two parts “Comedy of Errors,” Mr. Yousaf’s administration collapsed and he was forced to resign.
Observe two salient details. First, the specific list of targets the country was missing. Scotland had reached the point where further net-zero progress would have made obvious and material demands of household budgets. That isn’t counting the additional costs of renewable power hidden in utility bills.
I have discussed the above ideas many times. There are farm protests in nearly every country on the main continent and Greens are likely to get clobbered hard in the European Parliament elections in June.
VIDEO
What About the US? The Journal reports “The puzzlement is that the U.S. is headed in the opposite direction. President Biden is pressing ahead with aggressive net-zero policies such as an electric-vehicle mandate and pouring trillions of dollars of borrowed government and hard-earned household money into climate boondoggles. “
There is no puzzle. Biden is owned 100% by the Progressives.
They control climate policy, regulations, student loans, abortion, everything.
Please note Biden Promotes Climate Change at the Expense of More Global Poverty
The mad rush to deal with climate change, even if it works (it won’t), has a nasty tradeoff (more global poverty).
Biden will not do anything to offend the Progressives, even if it means he loses the election over it.
Tyler Durden Sat, 05/04/2024 - 11:40 Close Sat, 04 May 2024 15:05:00 +0000 "Reasons Unknown": Floating Russian Oil Base Off Greece Abruptly Shifts South
"Reasons Unknown": Floating Russian Oil Base Off Greece Abruptly Shifts South
Traders and shipping companies have ensured millions of barrels of Russian crude and crude products flow around the world despite European Union sanction
Read more.....
"Reasons Unknown": Floating Russian Oil Base Off Greece Abruptly Shifts South
Traders and shipping companies have ensured millions of barrels of Russian crude and crude products flow around the world despite European Union sanctions against Moscow for its 'special operation' in Ukraine. One method to ensure the flow has been cargo switching at sea, known by traders as ship-to-ship or STS transfers.
One of the hottest STS transfer spots for Russian crude and crude products was in Greece's Laconian Gulf, a gulf in the south-eastern Peloponnese. Now, research firm TankerTrackers
"For reasons unknown , the Laconian Gulf in Greece, used as a transshipment point for Russian oil ; was completely vacated of major tankers on the afternoon of 2024-05-01. The STS transfers are now taking place directly south of the gulf," TankerTrackers wrote on X.
STS Russian transfers from the Laconian Gulf have ended up thousands of miles away in Asia. However, according to the Black Sea Group, some of it ended up at European ports because of Brussels' poor sanction management:
"68% of the oil was brought to the Laconian Gulf in Greece for transshipment, while the rest was directly exported to the EU ports amid poor sanctions management," researcher Bohdan Ben wrote in a note.
TankerTrackers pointed out that the STS transfers in the Laconian Gulf have shifted just south. The firm used maritime data from Marine Traffic and satellite imagery data from Kpler.
Bloomberg notes STS transfers of Russian crude could be shifting to the Red Sea:
There are other signs of change in how Russian oil is moving. One tanker also flipped a cargo of crude onto another vessel in the Red Sea last month. The Panta Rei 1 transfered its cargo onto the Odysseus, which then transported its consignment to India. That's the first ever switch observed in that location in ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
What is evident is that, despite Western sanctions on Moscow, Russian crude oil and crude products continue to circulate globally. The puzzling thing here is why the abrupt shift away from the Laconian Gulf region?
Tyler Durden Sat, 05/04/2024 - 11:05 Close Sat, 04 May 2024 14:30:00 +0000 Fidelity: Pension Funds Exploring Bitcoin Investments On ETF Approval
Fidelity: Pension Funds Exploring Bitcoin Investments On ETF Approval
Fidelity: Pension Funds Exploring Bitcoin Investments On ETF Approval
Authored by Vivek Sun via Bitcoin Magazine,
Fidelity, a major financial services firm, says pension funds are starting to explore investing in Bitcoin, particularly after the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange -traded funds earlier this year...
Fidelity has been bullish on Bitcoin for years, launching its Digital Assets branch in 2018 and bringing a successful Bitcoin ETF to market earlier this year. The firm's ETF attracted significant capital compared to competitors.
Now, Fidelity's VP of Digital Assets Manuel Nordeste says the company is engaging with major pension funds and other institutional investors about allocating to Bitcoin.
Speaking at a recent event, Nordeste stated: "Now, we're starting to have conversations with the larger, real money institutional investor types, and we're getting some of those clients, as well as corporates and so on."
His comments come after BlackRock also mentioned yesterday having educational conversations with pension funds regarding Bitcoin ETFs . Recent 13F filings show major pension consultants have already purchased spot Bitcoin ETFs.
This mounting evidence indicates serious diligence is underway about allowing pension investments in Bitcoin vehicles like ETFs.
With over $4 trillion in capital, U.S. pension funds committing even tiny portfolio allocations could drive significant inflows.
While pensions remain cautious compared to family offices and hedge funds, who've already bought Bitcoin exposure, their conservative mandates and focus on risk management has kept most pensions on the sidelines so far.
If pensions follow the lead of early adopters, it would represent a seismic shift in mainstream acceptance.
Thus far, Bitcoin ETFs have seen tremendous demand since launching this year. While this week marked record outflows, the long-term trajectory still appears highly favorable.
Tyler Durden Sat, 05/04/2024 - 10:30 Close Sat, 04 May 2024 13:55:00 +0000 Hims & Hers Health Shares Tumble After CEO Says 'Will Hire Anti-Israel Student Protesters'
Hims & Hers Health Shares Tumble After CEO Says 'Will Hire Anti-Israel Student Protesters'
Publicly traded telehealth company Hims & Hers Health, Inc. tumbled into a correction at the end of last week when the CEO said he and other
Read more.....
Hims & Hers Health Shares Tumble After CEO Says 'Will Hire Anti-Israel Student Protesters'
Publicly traded telehealth company Hims & Hers Health, Inc. tumbled into a correction at the end of last week when the CEO said he and other executives were "eager" to hire anti-Israel student protesters.
"Moral courage > College degree," Palestinian-American CEO Andrew Dudum wrote on X .
Dudum said, "If you're currently protesting against the genocide of the Palestinian people & for your university's divestment from Israel, keep going. It's working."
"There are plenty of companies & CEOs eager to hire you, regardless of university discipline," he noted.
Substack author Jordan Schachtel responded to Dudum's post on X by indicating his activism is a "violation of fiduciary duty..."
"What does this have to do with your business? why does this belong at a public company? Marshall Wace isn't paying you to play politics," Martin Shkreli wrote.
Here's what other X users said:
Following the CEO's activism post, shares of Hims & Hers tumbled into a correction.
Other X users said they were "selling" the stock, while others said they were "shorting" it.
Meanwhile, Palantir CEO Alex Karp said anti-Israel protesters causing chaos across colleges and universities should be shipped off to North Korea as part of an "exchange program" to give them perspective.
"We're gonna do an exchange program sponsored by Karp," he said, adding, "A couple months in North Korea, nice-tasting flavored bark. See how you feel about that."
The problem with some of these college protests is their artificial nature, funded by the Soros group and other non-governmental organizations, with the goal of sparking chaos in a Marxist takeover of America.
CEO Dudum reminds us of the virtue-signaling days of mega-corporations who jumped on the BLM movement, which only turned out to be a bunch of Marxists wanting to destroy capitalism and the US.
Tyler Durden Sat, 05/04/2024 - 09:55 Close Sat, 04 May 2024 13:20:00 +0000 New Discovered Uranium Deposit In Poland Could Fuel Future Polish Nuclear Power Plant
New Discovered Uranium Deposit In Poland Could Fuel Future Polish Nuclear Power Plant
New Discovered Uranium Deposit In Poland Could Fuel Future Polish Nuclear Power Plant
By Grzegorz Adamczyk of RMX.news
The Swietokrzyska Industrial Group Industria (SGP Industria) has confirmed the presence of uranium in a deposit within the Swietokrzyskie Region in southern Poland. The company now plans to undertake further exploratory work to determine the deposit’s size and potential extraction methods. This finding was made during exploratory activities, though the company has chosen not to disclose the exact location at this time. In the coming months, detailed work will be carried out to establish the deposit’s size and potential exploitation methods.
A uranium ore pile is the first to be mined at the Energy Fuels Inc. uranium Pinyon Plain Mine, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, near Tusayan, Ariz., USA. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates that Poland has approximately 100,000 tons of natural uranium, although only 7,000 tons have been confirmed so far. SGP Industria received an exploratory concession from the Ministry of Climate and Environment for a polymetallic deposit containing uranium in the region.
Following the company’s efforts, the presence of uranium in the deposit was verified. Continued exploration over the next few months will aim to precisely determine the content of various elements in the deposit, its size, and potential extraction methods.
“I am very pleased that our efforts over the past three years to develop mining in the Swietokrzyskie Region and access to critical raw materials in Poland, including uranium crucial for the nuclear sector, are bearing fruit,”
The company conducted its studies based on documents from the National Geological Archive of the State Geological Institute in Warsaw. These documents include data from the Soviet atomic program and uranium ore searches in the Swietokrzyskie Mountains in the 1950s.
Continue reading at RMX.news
Tyler Durden Sat, 05/04/2024 - 09:20 Close Sat, 04 May 2024 12:45:00 +0000 Zelensky Tells Commanders Ukraine Must Defeat Russia To Join NATO
Zelensky Tells Commanders Ukraine Must Defeat Russia To Join NATO
Ukraine's President Zelensky has reportedly told his top military commanders that Ukraine must win against Russia if it hopes to one day be admitted into NATO.
<
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Zelensky Tells Commanders Ukraine Must Defeat Russia To Join NATO
Ukraine's President Zelensky has reportedly told his top military commanders that Ukraine must win against Russia if it hopes to one day be admitted into NATO.
Russian state media has captured and translated key lines of the speech. "I believe that we will be in NATO only if we win. I don’t think that we will be admitted [...] during the war," Zelensky had said during a meeting with officers. Ukrainian sources also confirmed the remarks.
He admitted that as things currently stand, NATO leaders "feel the risks" while "others are simply skeptical." The Ukrainian president continued, "Therefore, for Ukraine to be accepted into the alliance, we need victory ."
Stoltenberg traveled to Ukraine this week, via NATO. He further described that Ukraine's independence can ultimately be permanently guaranteed by eventually becoming a full member of NATO.
From Brussels and Washington's perspective, the idea of NATO membership for Kiev has been put on hold, despite the enthusiastic rhetoric of some hawkish officials in the West, given NATO's Article 5 common defense treaty would mean it would trigger automatic war with Russia .
NATO as a matter of policy does not admit nations in a state of active war, or with a hot conflict on their border - given it would automatically force the whole alliance to militarily intervene.
In this case, admission would lead to nuclear-armed confrontation with Russia basically overnight. However, given the continued escalation of the West, that's still where things may eventually be headed.
This also as the world is constantly being told that the tens of billions in Western funds and aid already sent is never enough
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is busy this week chastising members of the alliance for the slow pace of weapons delivery at a moment Ukraine has admitted getting beaten back along some key frontline positions. Earlier this week Ukraine's defense chief admitted that a tactical retreat is underway .
"I know that serious delays in support have meant serious consequences on the battlefield," Stoltenberg said Monday alongside Zelensky at a joint press conference. "For months, the US was unable to agree on a package. And European Allies have been unable to deliver ammunition at the scale we promised ."
Meanwhile, the arguments out of Kiev are getting more and more creative:
Zelensky is hoping for aircraft next: "I am confident that we will have modern aircraft that will also be a part of this system," Zelensky said of future aid packages from the West. He is also urging that more Patriot systems be sent, while Russia continues pounding Odessa in the south, and cities in the north.
Tyler Durden Sat, 05/04/2024 - 08:45 Close Sat, 04 May 2024 12:10:00 +0000 Israeli Industry Braces For Economic Damage Amid Turkish Trade Ban
Israeli Industry Braces For Economic Damage Amid Turkish Trade Ban
Israeli Industry Braces For Economic Damage Amid Turkish Trade Ban
Via Middle East Eye
Sectors across the Israeli economy are warning of wide-reaching impacts of Turkey’s decision to halt all trade with Israel, and are scrambling to find alternative sources for lost imports.
The Turkish trade ministry announced earlier this week that Ankara is halting all import and export transactions related to Israel until it "allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza." The ban on imports includes iron and steel products, construction materials, minerals, machinery, cars, energy products, rubber, plastics, health and agricultural products .
The construction industry is bracing for the loss of Turkish iron and steel products and building materials, as Turkey supplied 29 percent of Israel's total cement imports last year .
Construction work on the settlement of Tzofim, east of the Palestinian West Bank village of Qalqilya, on 2 January 2024 (AFP) Last month, Israeli businessmen warned that the restrictions could drive an increase in property and rent prices . Meanwhile, Israel’s largest oil refinery, Bezan, said the ban could impact crude oil imports.
Forty percent of Israel’s annual oil consumption is piped to the Turkish oil hub port of Ceyhan and then shipped to Israel.
Moreover, representatives of the electrical products industry are warning that the ban could lead to a 35 percent hike in prices, as the majority of domestic electrical goods in Israel are manufactured in Turkey.
The new restrictions could force importers to import across the Red Sea, where attacks by Yemen's Houthi group have driven a spike in shipping costs.
'Dire straits'
In April, the contractors' association wrote a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, accusing them of driving the sector to the brink of collapse.
Amit Gottlieb, chairman of the Urban Renewal Committee in the Israel Builders’ Association (ACB), said the Israeli construction industry was already in "dire straits" since Israel’s war on Gaza began , due to labor shortages resulting from Israel’s ban on Palestinian workers .
He added that alternative imports of construction materials from Germany, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Greece needed to be arranged "as soon as possible".
Turkey’s exports to Israel were worth $5.4bn in 2023 , or 2.1 percent of its total exports, according to official data. From 2009 to 2023, trade between the two countries nearly tripled . By the end of that period, Turkey had become the fifth-largest supplier of goods imported by Israel, while Israel ranked as Turkey's 10th-largest export market, based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics.
On Thursday, Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, accused Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of ignoring international trade agreements and acting like a "dictator". He added that Israel would seek to replace the lost Turkish imports with locally produced goods or imports from other countries.
Tyler Durden Sat, 05/04/2024 - 08:10 Close Sat, 04 May 2024 11:35:00 +0000 UK Vows To Arm Ukraine For 'As Long as It Takes' - Commits $3.7BN Annually
UK Vows To Arm Ukraine For 'As Long as It Takes' - Commits $3.7BN Annually
The UK has committed to what might be called 'forever aid' in Ukraine's defense, with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron newly promising $3.74 b
Read more.....
UK Vows To Arm Ukraine For 'As Long as It Takes' - Commits $3.7BN Annually
The UK has committed to what might be called 'forever aid' in Ukraine's defense, with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron newly promising $3.74 billion of annual military aid for Kiev for "as long as it takes" .
He unveiled the plan Thursday, and it marks the biggest commitment in foreign defense aid rollout for Britain thus far in the war (and perhaps in all of history), coming on the heels of the Biden administration also seeking to erect a 10-year plan to assist Ukraine which theoretically would lock in future US presidents as well.
AFP/Getty Images "We will give 3 billion pounds every year for as long as is necessary . We've just really emptied all we can in terms of giving equipment," Cameron told Reuters
"Some of that [equipment] is actually arriving in Ukraine today, while I'm here," he said. Alarmingly, he openly stated that the British government has no problem with Ukrainian forces using UK weapons to strike at targets inside Russian territory.
"Ukraine has that right. Just as Russia is striking inside Ukraine, you can quite understand why Ukraine feels the need to make sure it's defending itself," Cameron said.
"It's absolutely crucial, not just in terms of the weapons it will bring, but also the boost to morale that it will bring to people here in Ukraine," the UK top diplomat continued in the remarks given upon his second visit to the war-ravaged country as foreign secretary.
Cameron was at one point asked whether a potential future Trump administration could negatively impact the flow of aid to the Zelensky government.
He responded: "It's not for us to decide who the Americans choose as their president. We will work with whoever that is." NATO officials have reportedly been attempting to "Trump-proof" any future aid .
Last Sunday, Zelensky himself signaled as much in a nightly video address, saying that he's working with Washington on a bilateral security agreement which would last ten years . "We are already working on a specific text," Zelensky said in his nightly video address. "Our goal is to make this agreement the strongest of all."
"We are discussing the specific foundations of our security and cooperation. We are also working on fixing specific levels of support for this year and the next 10 years ."
He indicated it will likely include agreements on long-term support centering on military hardware and joint arms production, as well as continuing reconstruction aid. "The agreement should be truly exemplary and reflect the strength of American leadership," Zelensky added.
But as we've been detailing, Ukraine's problem currently is not fundamentally a question of funding or weaponry, but of manpower. Soon it may not have enough troops to operate the sophisticated weaponry being shipped in by the West, given the daily bad news from the front lines.
Tyler Durden Sat, 05/04/2024 - 07:35 Close
Dotsquares